Candle holder



y 9, 1956 M. 1. THORN 2,747,393

CANDLE HOLDER Filed Nov. 13, 1953' :IBTVENTQR MARTHA lSABEL THORN,

:IBv Th MN United States Patent Oflice Patented May 29, 1956 CANDLE HOLDER Martha Isabel Thorn, Indianapolis, Ind.

Application November 13, 1953, Serial No. 391,798

1 Claim. (CI. 67-23) This invention relates to a device for holding a candle in a flower display wherein the ordinary candlestick base cannot be employed. In arranging flowers, it is frequently advisable to shift the candle holder around in the arrangement in order to secure the most attractive and pleasing result.

My invention provides a structure which will adapt itself to candles of different diameters, and which will be usable in conjunction with the ordinary needle base flower holder as well as in the plastic foam blocks now commonly supplied by florists.

The invention is made out of one piece of metal and has no movable parts in respect to springs, levers, and the like. The extreme simplicity of the structure embodying the invention greatly enhances its value and desirability,

These and many other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those versed in the art in the following description of one particular form of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a view in side elevation of a structure embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in top plan;

Fig. 3 is a view in bottom plan;

Fig. 4 is a formed blank from which the holder is made;

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the invention holding a candle and supported by a needle flower supporting base; and

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation and partial section of the structure as supported by a block of synthetic plastic foam.

The invention is embodied in a generally cylindrical shell 10 which has its lower end slotted to provide a plurality of tongues 11, herein shown as four in number. The shell 10 is split vertically from one of the slots 12, to provide the slot 13 coextensive with the height of the shell 10 from the upper end of the slot 12. Preferably the upper end of the shell 10 is outwardly flared as at 14.

The lower ends of the tongues 11 are preferably rounded as at 15, and are arcuately curved as extensions of the shell 10.

By reason of the slot 13, a candle 16 may be inserted within the shell 10 from the upper flared end 14. Variations in diameters of these candles 16 frequently occur and thus the shell 10 may expand as the candle is forced therein, this expansion being permitted by reason of the presence of the cut through slot 13 which permits an effective increase in diameter of the shell 10. The shell 10 is preferably made of the material which has some degree of elasticity, one such material being the so called stainless steel. It is preferable in any event that the shell be made out of the metal which is nonrusting. The shell 10 may be formed from a blank generally designated by the numeral 17, Fig. 4 which has the tongues 11 blanked out by the intervening slots 12. The edges 18 and 19 of the blank 17 form the marginal edges of the slot 13 when the blank 17 is rolled into cylindrical shape.

The edges 18 and 19 are spaced from the outer edges 20 and 21 by the outermost tongues 11 half the distance of the width of the slots 12, this distance being approximate and of course varying when the slot 13 is widened by the insertion of an oversize candle into the shell 10.

By reason of the rounded ends 15 being formed at the lower ends of the tongue 11, this spade-like formation permits the shell 10 to be readily inserted downwardly between the needle 22 of the needle base 23 as illustrated in Fig. 5 so that the shell 10 is very effectively held in a vertical position. Likewise the shell 10 may be readily inserted by its tongues 11 into a block 24 of a synthetic plastic which has been foamed. Such blocks 24 are very frequently employed in flower arrangements to support other devices such as wires which hold flowers in position, and therefore advantage is taken of that fact to permit the block to support the candle holders also.

The shell 10 in the one particular form shown herein is preferably notched as at 25 in the three positions indicated in Fig. 4, these notches 25 being centered on the vertical center lines of the slot 12. The presence of these notches 25 permit the expansion of the shell 10 to receive larger sizes of candles than the size for which the shell 10 is normally and originally formed.

While I have therefore described my invention in the one particular form, it is obvious that structural variations may be employed such for example as the shaping of the tongues 11 at their ends particularly and in the number of such tongues as well as in the number of the notches which are provided in the upper marginal edge of the holder, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations which may be imposed by the following claim.

I claim:

The combination with a base having a plurality of upstanding needles for supporting a flower arrangement, of a candle holder insertable among the flowers and engaging said needles for its support, comprising a hollow cylinder of elastic material of uniform diameter throughout its length, the lower end portion of the cylinder being slotted longitudinally thereof dividing that lower end into a plurality of downwardly extending spades, the lower edges of the spades being bluntly rounded and the side edges of the pades being straight and parallel throughout their lengths providing uniform widths thereof, the upper rim of the cylinder being downwardly notched at intervals therearound providing upper edges in circumferentially extending lines in a common plane between notches, the rim portion between the notches being equal in extent to the circumferential width of said spades and being outwardly flared in a frusto-conical manner, said spades being removably inserted between, around, and supported by the needles of said base and resting on the base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 99,875 Gardiner Feb. 15, 1870 582,375 Schlueter May 11, 1897 1,879,477 Powell Sept. 27, 1932 2,236,071 Raskin et a1 Mar, 25, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 18,978 Great Britain of 1894 

